Contactless stores to grow in Europe as Sensei reels in another $16M

While Amazon Go helped pioneer the concept of the totally contactless store, others, like 7-Eleven and Walmart, have entered the territory. And the arena is growing, in part because several startups — such as  Standard Cognition, Zippin, AiFi, Grabango, Trigo — have proliferated, offering their technology to retailers. 

But in Europe, Portuguese startup Sensei has been growing its contactless store platform and has now pulled in a €15 million Series A funding round led by BlueCrow Capital. Also participating were new investors Lince Capital, Explorer Investments, and Kamay Ventures (the investment arm of Coca-Cola and Arcor Group), as well as existing investors Metro AG and Techstars Ventures.

In 2021 Lisbon-based Sensei raised a seed round of $6.5 million (€5.4 million). Back then, the funding was led by Seaya Ventures and Iberis Capital, with participation from 200M Fund.

The startup is now aiming at 1,000 fully autonomous points of sale by 2026. It is already operating with clients in Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, and Brazil, and plans to expand into central and northern Europe.

Using computer vision, AI-powered sensors, and real-time algorithms, Sensei’s system automatically updates a customer’s cart and displays a ready-to-pay list of items, with identity and privacy protected. 

Contactless stores reduce checkout costs, prevent stock-outs, and offer retailers real-time visibility into store operations.

Over a call with Vasco Portugal, CEO and co-founder of Sensei, he said the company has “been growing, especially last year . . . We are now present in five geographies.”

“There’s two problems in the retail industry. The experience for customers sucks. Secondly, it’s very hard to process all of the sales information in real time. Now, it’s really about the automation of stores, like the automation of cars and the automation of factories. I think it’s a natural transition,” he added.

The competition in the space is enormous. Among other rivals to raise sizable rounds from investors are Standard Cognition, which has raised $239.4 million; Trigo, which has raised $199 million; Grabango, which has raised $93.8 million; AiFi, which has raised $87.1 million; and Zippin, which has raised $44 million.